It’s been a fun-filled week in third grade! Students celebrated Valentine’s Day, participated in a SEM program on energy, and continued working hard!
In math this week, third graders worked at breaking down multi-step division problems and solving them using a variety of strategies. Students also took a short checkpoint that centered on multiplication and division facts. Quick note that third graders should be practicing their multiplication facts at home. I highly encourage students to memorize their multiplication facts (0-12), as getting a handle on them now will be immensely helpful in the future! Third graders can practice their facts via our class blog, with websites accessible through the ‘Student Resources’ tab. Old fashioned flashcards work great as well! Science this week was all about weathering, both the physical and chemical kind. Third graders had the opportunity to simulate different types of weathering through experiments in class. To learn more about chemical weathering, third graders used vinegar to imitate acid rain. Our focus was on how acid rain can alter rock formations. Students made initial observations of 4 different types of rock: basalt, marble, limestone and sandstone. The rocks are now sitting in vinegar over the long weekend, and we’ll observe changes when we get back! In writer’s workshop, third graders continue to work on crafting and writing their endangered animal reports. As a class, we are now focused on writing about why many of these animals become endangered, and what people can do to stop it. The passion and drive students have shown in learning about their animals has been impressive. Many are bound and determined to save these animals from extinction! What a week it’s been here in third grade! Students battled through the frigid temperatures and have been busy breaking down word problems and comparing main idea vs. theme. During math this week, third graders were focused on fact families, specifically how they are interconnected. We talked about how we can use fact families to help solve both division and multiplication problems. Third graders then transitioned to studying the language of multiplication and division word problems. We worked to determine key words that help the problem solver determine what the question is asking. Third graders then had the chance to create and solve word problems of their own! This proved to be a great system of practice and helped solidify how to break down the language of problems and solve. Reader’s Workshop this week was all about breaking down main idea and theme, with a focus on how the two are different. We started things off with a Microsoft commercial from the Super Bowl and then transitioned to short stories. Third graders did a great job grasping this concept, and many thoughtful discussions resulted from the process. Feel free to watch the commercial here. Warning: It’s a tear jerker! Friendly reminder that Valentine’s Day is this upcoming Thursday, February 14th! We will be celebrating in class with a movie, frozen yogurt, and other fun activities! If your student would like to participate, we will be passing out valentines that afternoon. Third graders should bring 24 valentines (candy is also allowed). The valentines should have the “from” section filled out with your child’s name, but do not need to be addressed. Feel free to bring extras for students in other third grade classes! Valentine boxes are not necessary. It’s been an awesome week in third grade! Third graders have been busy researching endangered animals with a focus on how these creatures survive, why they’re endangered, and how people can help save them. Third graders all chose their own animals, learned the animals’ endangered classifications, and have been using online resources to learn all they can. Now that students have thoroughly researched, we will begin crafting reports on each animal. Eventually, third graders will create web pages to educate others on conservation efforts.
In math, third graders jumped into a new unit: Multiplication, Division & Area. During this unit of study, students will solve multiplication and division problems, calculate the area of rectangles, and use arrays to model and solve multiplication and division problems. We’re off to a great start! Lately, Reader’s Workshop is all about nonfiction! Specifically, understanding the main idea and tracking how it can change throughout a text. Students have been using a variety of resources to track main idea, including an online tool, Newsela. The resource serves is an online newspaper with articles geared toward students. Our class has been reading articles on a variety of endangered animals, linking our learning with our animal reports. We’ll continue using Newsela for the remainder of the year. This week, third graders also had a chance to work in partnerships to determine the main ideas of different non-fiction texts. See pictures of collaboration in action below! |
Author
Mrs. Minatta is a third grade teacher at Cottonwood Creek Elementary. See and read all about what third graders are up to throughout the school year! Archives
March 2021
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